Still Going Strong!

Despite not being 100% raw yet, I'm continuing to lose weight and so far I am feeling quite healthy. I have become more accustomed to grains and beans and now I combine quinoa with lentils and vegetables for one meal daily. Breakfast is usually fruit. I often have an ounce of almonds as a snack or even with my breakfast, but I'm reconsidering continuing that since they add a lot of calories but only a few grams of protein. I can honestly say I don't miss dairy as much as I thought I would.

Speaking of protein, I've been getting between only 40 and 60 grams daily with this new McDougall-influenced way of eating. Since I have been aiming for 60 - 80, I'm not entirely happy. However, I'll keep plugging away and trying new foods over the next few weeks. The bulk of my protein comes from lentils. Combined with a grain and vegetables I can get a complete protein- this is where nutritiondata.com comes in handy; I use the recipe analyzer to see if my food combinations give me the nutrition I'm looking for.

Today my nutritionist weighed and measured me. I have lost about 29 lbs, and 54 inches total since early June. Although it's nice to see my clothes get looser, I don't get excited about the weight loss too much. When I lose 50 lbs I might get excited again. However, I was happy with my blood pressure of 110/80.

My goal is still to lose 50 lbs before the end of the year. To that end I started some light weight training about a month ago using a 10-lb free weight. I need to start the cardio again but haven't been motivated enough. Now that the weather is nice I want to start walking outdoors. I've also still got that VitaMix in my sights, and I'm even more motivated to use it since hearing Victoria Boutenko talk about green smoothies. I've tried green smoothies and can't say I like them, but I know they are good for me and will help me on my road to an all-raw or high-raw diet.

Beautiful Lentils

I was feeling pretty good about all the grains I've been preparing, but I have seen my carbohydrate intake rise sharply. Is this a bad thing? According to Dr. Mercola, a low grain diet may be more healthy than the high-grain one I've been working on. Darn you, Dr. Mercola! Actually, other nutrition resources also warn against high carb meals because carbohydrates can increase blood sugar levels. I'm still going to increase my grains and legumes because I wasn't eating any before, but I tell you, it is so frustrating trying to put together a well-balanced diet. You'd think since I'm paying a nutritionist to help me, I'd let her do her job, wouldn't you? I will ask her this week to craft a mostly-raw, vegan menu plan for seven days.

The meal I enjoyed the most today was steamed lentils combined with quinoa. Not only was it delicious, but these two ingredients were very pretty together in the bowl. I loved the textures and the varying shades of brown. There's something to be said for attractive-looking meals! The lentils came from Trader Joe's and are precooked. I prepared the quinoa in my rice cooker. I think I might have used too much water because it came out very clumpy, but I actually liked the two textures together. The picture above doesn't quite do it justice.

So here's what I ate today, for a total of 1589 calories, 56 grams of fat (6 saturated), 235 gms carbs, 59 gms protein, and 64 grms fiber

Breakfast: fruit salad
Honeydew Melon
Blueberries
Kiwi Fruit
Mangoes
Almonds, 1 oz

Lunch
Trader Joe's Couscous Salad, (1/2 the package)
1/2 Avocado
Hemp seed
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Red Ripe Tomatoes
Spinach, fresh
My salad from yesterday

Dinner
lentils
1/2 Avocado
Quinoa

By the way, Dr. Mercola's article on low grain diets can be found via the following link: http://www.mercola.com/article/carbohydrates/scientific_evidence_low_grains2.htm

New Recipes

Today I tried to get 60 gms of protein, minimum, without resorting to protein powder. I started with a smoothie with 4 tablespoons of the shelled hemp seed for breakfast. It was better this time because I knew to blend it more thoroughly with my immersion blender, but there was still some texture.

For lunch I had half of a Trader Joe's couscous salad into which I added 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds for additional protein. As a snack I had an ounce of almonds.

Dinner was a raw salad I made based on Israeli Salad (photo above): diced cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, and green onions, with cilantro, garlic, and the juice of half a lime. I also added fresh corn. I loved this salad so much that I am experimenting adding it to different grains and legumes to give me the protein I'm always after. I've got it mixed with quinoa, with lentils, and with millet. I'll try these three over the next couple of days.

At the end of today I was in the 50 gram range for protein, so I ate a handful of sunflower seeds, pepitos, and 1/2 ounce of almonds. That gave me a little over 60 grams, but I got a lot of fat for my trouble. It's the good fat, but too much of anything is a problem, and I'm not sure how a lot of plant fat will affect my rate of weight loss. Although weight loss is not my primary focus, I do want to get 50 lbs off this year.

Thanks, ren, for the Rice Protein information. I hope to avoid using protein powders altogether, but if I decided to use some on days I don't get enough, rice protein powder would help me without giving me soy or animal products. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it is also low carb).

That's it for today. Tomorrow is the grains challenge.